Chapter 717 Exploring Blackwater (1/2)
The Great Zhou Empire’s Border, Blackwater.
Atop a mountain, Zhou Yuan and Yaoyao peered down at a land that was still engulfed in chaos even after so many years. The chaos had never stopped even after the Black Venom King had been subdued by him.
Evildoers from many countries hid in Blackwater because they were hunted everywhere else. This was a place where evil was sheltered and wrongdoing was accepted, a place that constantly reeked of blood.
However, although there were many factions hiding in Blackwater, none had dared to infringe upon the Great Zhou Empire’s borders for the past few years. After all, they had learned a lesson from seeing the Black Venom King subdued.
With the Great Zhou Empire’s recent triumph over the Great Wu Empire, the factions of Blackwater were now even more afraid of creating trouble.
“This energy is very terrifying.”
Zhou Yuan was wearing a grave expression. To think that these energy fluctuations would still linger after so many years. If his speculation was correct, it most likely was left by the ancient thunderbolt punishment.
When he first came to Blackwater, he hadn’t even reached the Qi Nourishing stage, and was thus unable to detect this energy. But now that he had reached the Divine Dwelling stage he could naturally vividly feel the terrifying remnant power.
“Blackwater is said to be extremely vast and stretches all the way from the northern part of the Cangmang Continent to the edge of the continent. Only the most outer regions of Blackwater are inhabited while the central area is dominated by the residual thunderbolt punishment. It is a place that ordinary people do not dare to even approach.”
Zhou Yuan gazed towards the depths of Blackwater and said, “This time, we’ll have to venture into the deepest region.”
Carrying Tuntun, Yaoyao looked ahead and felt a surge of nostalgia, “Silver Shadow was also obtained there.”
Zhou Yuan nodded, “Unfortunately, Silver Shadow’s hasn’t been able to keep up with my cultivation.”
After reaching the Divine Dwelling stage, Silver Shadow was unable to provide a substantial increase in power like before.
“That's because Silver Shadow can only reach the level of the Alpha Origin stage.”
Yaoyao stroked Tuntun’s soft fur as her red lips curved in a smile. “But you shouldn’t underestimate Silver Shadow. It is one of the greatest creations of the ancient Battle Puppet Sect. I’ve also mentioned before that it has the ability to grow.”
“But you've studied it for so many years and still haven't discovered how to enable its growth properties.” muttered Zhou Yuan.
A rare flush spread across Yaoyao’s beautiful and fair face. Clenching her teeth, she glowered at Zhou Yuan. “You, you really think I can do everything?”
Seeing Yaoyao's rare irritation turned into anger, Zhou Yuan dazedly stared at her. She was too beautiful right now.
It was quite some time later before he snapped out of it and remarked, “So beautiful.”
He knew that only he was blessed enough to see Yaoyao in such a state.
Yaoyao shot a glance at him, combing her fine black hair as she snappily said, “Are you going to go or not?”
“Come on, let’s go.”
Zhou Yuan chuckled as golden Genesis Qi swept out with a wave of his robe. It rolled Yaoyao and him up, before turning into a beam of golden light that sped towards the depths of Blackwater.
Two humans and a beast passed through the outer regions of Blackwater in two hours.
And as they ventured deeper and deeper, it grew harder and harder to find any signs of life. The entire land was desolate and lifeless.
The thunderbolt punishment appeared to have destroyed the vitality of the land. There was no presence of any life even after so many years.
As the day came to an end, Zhou Yuan and the others were unable to find any living things. In addition, they could feel an extremely violent atmosphere of destruction the deeper in they travelled, an atmosphere that was many times stronger than the outer regions.
Moreover, it seemed to possess the power to infect one’s heart, making one gradually go crazy. Fortunately, both Zhou Yuan and Yaoyao weren’t weak and were able to protect themselves with Genesis Qi, preventing the atmosphere from affecting them.
However, as the night fell, the violent rumbling of thunder began to boom from the sky of Blackwater.
Not a single thundercloud could be seen in the clear sky, but the rumbling continued endlessly, as though it originated from ancient times.
And when that maniacal thunder sounded, even Zhou Yuan’s face turned solemn. The effect of the atmosphere had rapidly strengthened in the night.
After which, Zhou Yuan did not dare to venture further ahead at night. He found a mountain cave for them to rest in and sealed the cave entrance before setting up a protective Genesis Runes. Only by doing this were they able to withstand the invasive atmosphere.
Having experienced the night thunder, Zhou Yuan grew more and more afraid of Blackwater.
After spending the night in the cave, Zhou Yuan and gang set off once again. They carefully explored the deeper regions of Blackwater.
....
Three days later.
Atop a barren mountain in the depths of Blackwater. Zhou Yuan gazed at the endless dead land before him in frustration. They had made no progress at all.
The depths of Blackwater was a dead land, and there was nothing that stood out.
“It really isn’t easy to find clues about the Cangxuan Saint Stamp.” Zhou Yuan smiled bitterly at Yaoyao.
Yaoyao scrunched her brows and pondered for a moment as she gazed at the dead land, “There really is nothing special in Blackwater, except for this deathly silence...
“The only thing that's out of the ordinary is....”
She turned to Zhou Yuan and said, “It might be the sound of thunder at night.”
Zhou Yuan’s brows furrowed again and his gaze drifted off in thought. That night thunder was filled with madness that could invade one’s mind and turn one crazy. They had spent their nights hiding in the mountains to shield themselves from the night thunder.
Blackwater was incredibly terrifying at night, but if they wanted to discover its secret, did they have to search for it during the darkness?